PAS president Tan Sri Hadi Awang is using religion – his favourite weapon – to burn into the minds of the Malays that Islam stresses forgiveness and not political vengeance.

Probably, what he has in mind is to get the Malays to forgive Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his crimes. According to his recent statement, only people of his faith and race understand the concept of forgiveness. Not the non-Malays.

To him, the royal decree about house arrest for Najib is something common and should not be rejected. In his warped mind, those who opposed the decree either do not understand Islam or are motivated by “political vengeance”.

It is clear that PAS is throwing its full support for the discredited former premier and presumably wants to see him serve his jail time in the comfort of his own house – a much more cheerful place.

When Hadi preaches the need for forgiveness based on the teaching of his religion, he is making Najib look like an innocent victim unjustly persecuted by his political antagonists.

Double standards

Indirectly, the PAS supremo is trying to sway the Malays to harbour no malice against the man languishing in his gloomy cell.

But what would be Hadi’s reaction if a prominent non-Malay politician is imprisoned for abuse of power and corruption?

Would he apply the same argument? Would he use his Islamic principles to advocate for forgiveness of this politician who is from another race and faith?

It is unlikely that he would show empathy and understanding for such a person considering that he once said that the non-Malays “make up the bulk of the roots of corruption”. He might twist the teaching of his religion to justify the incarceration of the non-Muslim politician.

First and foremost, Hadi is a politician and whatever he says carries political connotations behind the religious facade. At the back of his mind, he must be calculating the advantages his party can accrue from the Najib narrative.

If he fights for Najib, he is fighting for PAS because he thinks he can capture all the Malay vote bank now that UMNO appears to be not so keen on its former boss.

The Hadi-and-Najib show has a potentially promising ring to it if it goes on the campaign trail. The eight-term Marang MP and Islamic cleric would probably parade Najib as a contrite born-again politician whose sins have been forgiven by Hadi.

But who will listen to Hadi? His sermon about forgiveness is unlikely to move the voters to tears because Najib is no longer a moral force for the country.

Forgiving corruptors

Hadi not only sees the beauty of forgiveness but also the ugliness of political vengeance as if he is above taking retribution himself against his adversaries.

If PAS were to gain absolute power, won’t he retaliate against all those who have been vehement critics of everything that the party stands for?

He would probably even come up with another Islamic principle to justify why it is morally right to exact revenge on his non-Muslim political foes.

Hadi has got it all wrong; in Najib’s case he was not hounded by political persecutors but hauled up by legal prosecutors. It was the long arm of the law that went after the former 10-term Pekan MP and not the hammer blows of his opponents.

The sword of vengeance and acts of forgiveness are the tools frequently employed by opportunistic politicians whenever it suits them.

Hadi angled his argument for leniency mainly from a religious point of view – you must help your fellow brethren in trouble even though he is morally corrupt because your religion says so.

But in our contemporary society, the modern laws of the land are formulated by minds steeped in knowledge and expertise. When a judge finds an accused guilty of a serious crime and sentences him to long prison term, forgiveness is the last thing on the public mind.

Since PAS priortises forgiveness and uses religion to underpin its commitment to this course of action, politicians caught in the web of corruption would most likely be forgiven their sins and set free in Hadi’s court. – Jan 21, 2025

Phlip Rodrigues is a retired journalist.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.

Main image credit: Malay Mail

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